névé

American  

[ney-vey] / neɪˈveɪ /

noun

1. granular snow accumulated on high mountains and subsequently compacted into glacial ice.

2. a field of such snow.

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névé British  

/ ˈnɛveɪ /

noun

1. Also called: firn.  a mass of porous ice, formed from snow, that has not yet become frozen into glacier ice

2. a snowfield at the head of a glacier that becomes transformed into ice

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névé Scientific  

/ nā-vā′ /

1. The upper part of a glacier, consisting of hardened snow.

2. The granular snow typically found in such a field.

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Etymology

Origin of névé

1850–55; < Franco-Provençal < Vulgar Latin *nivātum, noun use of neuter of Latin nivātus snow-cooled, equivalent to niv- (stem of nix snow ) + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

This region is called the region of the névé.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 73, November, 1863 by Various

For I hate the long snow-fields, the vast plains of névé with their glare and their infinite infernal monotony.

From A Tramp's Notebook by Roberts, Morley

The side we went up was covered by névé, which, to judge from the depth of the cracks, must have been immense.

From The South Pole; an account of the Norwegian antarctic expedition in the "Fram," 1910-1912 — Volume 2 by Chater, Arthur G.

At the lunch camp the snow covering was less than a foot, and at this it is a bare nine inches; patches of ice and hard névé are showing through in places.

From Scott's Last Expedition Volume I by Scott, Robert Falcon

The menacing séracs leaned from the cliffs, glittering icily, and threw black shadows upon the névé beneath, but suffered us to pass unmolested.

From McClure's Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 6, May, 1896 by Various